Some things for you

• In 1984 a huge thing happened in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. In fact, it was so huge that it helped propel the casino industry nationally. That was the first year that slot machines made more money for the casinos than table games. Until that time table games ruled. No more.


• Because slot machine inventory is ultimately far cheaper than hiring real people who come with real needs such as an ongoing salary, medical benefits, vacation days, limited work week and so on, those slots, once placed, work for you 24-hours a day.


• What table games were the kings before the slots? First it was craps. That was the action game, and all the high rollers stepped up to the craps table to test their luck. But once Edward O. Thorp discovered card counting and revealed it in his book “Beat the Dealer,” players flocked to blackjack because they thought they could beat the game, and blackjack became and remains the No. 1 table game.


• Craps and roulette are the next most popular games, followed by baccarat/mini-baccarat and a host of “carnival games” such as Three-Card Poker, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Poker and the like. Still all these table games combined cannot outdo blackjack. It seems to be “the once and future king.”


• The greatest blackjack game ever offered, in my experience, took place at the Maxim in the early 1990s. It was a single deck with all but one card dealt out. If the dealer ran out of cards he just took the discard pile, shuffled and continued dealing. The dealer stood on soft 17, all blackjacks where the player had a $5 bet or more also won an extra dollar that could be used (as a real dollar!) in the restaurants and gift shops. You could double on any first two cards, split pairs, double down on splits and surrender. You did not have to be a card counter to be able to beat this game!


• Men and women have different preferences when it comes to games. More women play slots than men do, but far more men play craps. Blackjack seems to be a tossup.


• The most famous blackjack player was probably Ken Uston, a flamboyant, gifted, hard-partying man about town. More young card counters try to emulate his style of play than any others. Generally they just bring unwanted attention to themselves.


• Supposedly the last “mob-owned” casino in Las Vegas was the Stardust, which ultimately became dust when it was imploded. It lasted a total of 48 years and was the real casino upon which the movie “Casino” was based.


• Atlantic City has closed almost half its casinos over the years. Getting the axe were ACH (formally Bally’s Grand and Golden Nugget), World’s Fair (formerly Playboy), Trump Plaza, Claridge, Sands, Showboat, Revel and Trump Taj Mahal. The remaining casinos are Tropicana, Caesars, Bally’s (which includes Wild, Wild West), Resorts, Borgata, Golden Nugget and Harrah’s.


• Approximately 54 million Americans go to the casinos each year.